WhatsApp has been officially classified as a “Very Large Online Platform” (VLOP) under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), a designation that subjects the platform to the bloc's strictest obligations to protect its users.
The move, announced on Monday, means WhatsApp will be required to actively prevent the spread of disinformation and the manipulation of public opinion, while also safeguarding users’ mental health, particularly that of younger audiences.
The measures will only apply to WhatsApp Channels, a feature usually used by brands and large organisations or people to address a wider audience than a simple group. Private messages are excluded from the scope.
“WhatsApp channels continue to grow in Europe and globally," a WhatsApp spokesperson told Euronews. "As this expansion continues, we remain committed to evolving our safety and integrity measures in the region, ensuring they align with relevant regulatory expectations and our ongoing responsibility to users."
The European Commission will monitor the platform and its operations more closely than ever – and if the messaging service is found to be in breach of the DSA's requirements, the Commission could impose a fine up to 6 percent of its global annual turnover.
It now has until mid-May to comply with the rules.
The measures are applied to so-called VLOPs, those with more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU – roughly 10 percent of the bloc’s population. WhatsApp currently has a monthly average of 51.7 million.
Also classified as VLOPs are Meta-owned platforms Instagram and Facebook, along with YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Shein, Wikipedia, and numerous pornographic websites.
Facebook and Instagram are facing ongoing Commission investigations regarding possible breaches of the DSA's requirements to protect minors.
The European Commission has also opened a probe under the DSA into the social media platform X over its in-built chatbot Grok's "spicy mode" feature, which allowed users to create nonconsensual sexually explicit images of real individuals, including children.
This story have been updated to include a comment from WhatsApp.
